Review: The Carnivorous Carnival – Lemony Snicket

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a review from A Series of Unfortunate Events. I started reading this one a few months ago but because I was only reading this series and nothing else, I was getting ready for a change so I put the series to the side for a bit.

When I picked this book up again the other day, I got straight back into it and read it all within a couple of hours.

The Baudelaire’s now find themselves in the boot of Olaf’s car, arriving at a carnival in the Hinterlands. They disguise themselves using his costumes so he won’t find them, and become an attraction at the carnival, alongside numerous other carnival ‘freaks’.

This is one of the few books where the Netflix adaptation was actually better. I felt that in the series Neil Patrick Harris really helped Olaf’s character become more sinister in this one than the book did.

I loved the character of Kevin, the ambidextrous ‘freak’. He was absolutely hilarious and was really entertaining. The way he thought he was more of a freak than everyone else because both of his hands were equally as strong had me giggling.

I also feel like the Netflix adaptation improved Madame Lulu as well by making her Olivia, which made some of the plot points later on a lot more shocking. Madame Lulu in the book felt a bit undeveloped and unexplained.

I sort of wish I’d have read the book before watching these particular episodes because then maybe my opinion would have been different on the characterisations.